They did it. They finally did it.
Mustafa Ali challenged MVP to a match one on one to settle their feud.
Ali came out by himself, but of course all of The Hurt Business joined MVP to play the numbers game. Ali had a great sell of MVP’s clothesline and he kept one upping MVP. The Hurt Business decided enough was enough, and they were about to gang up on him, until the lights flashed.
RETRIBUTION surrounded the ring, and T-Bar and Mace were standing together on the ramp. MVP asked if Ali would join with them to help take them down. Ali accepted, and then slid out of the ring to confront the two behemoths.
And then he slowly turned around with a grin. MVP knew what was about to happen.
“Get ‘em!”
Mace, T-Bar, and the rest of the group bombarded The Hurt Business and destroyed them. Ali got back in the ring, as did RETRIBUTION, and he raised his hand up as he always does. Slowly, he closed his fist and the lights went out.
Mustafa Ali is the leader of RETRIBUTION. On paper this made the most sense. Ali was supposed to be the “Hacker” last year and that angle got dropped after getting praise from all over.
I have chastised this group since its inception and while I really liked Ali being revealed as the leader, I’m extremely eager to finally hear the reasoning for all of this. One would say Ali being revealed as the leader sort of makes them a babyface stable, and I can’t find a reason to disagree with that argument.
This moment was the highlight of my evening and as a huge Mustafa Ali fan, I am very happy that he has been put in this role.
Don’t screw it up, WWE.
Telenovella
This feud was getting lackluster, but they dialed it way up and gave it the injection of energy it needed.
Seth Rollins commanded Murphy to give him the mic, similar to how Roman does to Heyman on SmackDown, but Murphy needed Rollins to apologize to Aalyah.
Seth refused and said that he could have aired more dirty laundry between the two of them, and also where Aalyah revealed her true feelings about her family, and he needs to understand who he’s talking to. He is the Messiah, and Murphy is the Disciple. He repeated that a few times and then Dom & Carrillo came out to break that up.
Really digging Dom & Carrillo as a team. Also, Carrillo with a beard immediately makes him look more mature. The main story here was the tension between Seth and Murphy. Murphy tagged in and Seth was mad, and when Murphy did it again, it almost cost them the match. Murphy was able to pin Carrillo, and then walked off.
In the back, Rollins demanded that Murphy apologize to him later in the show. When that time came, Murphy couldn’t bring himself to apologize.
And then it happened!
Murphy turned on Rollins and gave him a hellacious beating with a kendo stick, making Rollins apologize to Aalyah. But then classic stupid babyface syndrome made Murphy drop the kendo stick, and Rollins took over. Aalyah came out to defend Murphy, and the Mysterio family followed, taking her away as Murphy writhed in pain.
That was awesome. I was ready to write off this feud last week and they turned me back around. I have been waiting since Payback for Murphy to snap out of this hold Rollins had on him. Now, will he stay away? That remains to be seen, because they seemed to tease that Murphy may think Aalyah abandoned him at his time of need. Let’s see what happens.
Pinning the champion
In what reminded me of Aleister Black’s fireside chats in a dark room months ago, Orton recounted his dirty deeds from last Monday. Then he turned his attention to Drew and said that in order to cement his legacy, he’ll need to face Orton one more time in a match inside Hell in a Cell.
Throughout the promo I was hoping Drew would open the door and to my surprise, it actually happened! He brawled with Orton until being separated by Pearce and officials. He looked incensed and I am here for it.
Okay yes three matches when Orton lost all of them so far doesn’t really make sense. My fear also is that Orton will win, leading to a fourth match, and we definitely don’t need that. Raw is Repetition, though.
What doesn’t get me so excited is seeing Orton pin Drew in the main event. Last week I was harsh on Bobby Roode, and it was because he was undeserving of a title match. It was nothing against him as a wrestler. Orton has lost every interaction between he and Drew since SummerSlam.
There were other dudes there to take a pin. Just let them brawl every week to Hell in a Cell. I’m sure we’ll get another sort of match between them before then, too.
The Rest
Paralyzer - We have another KO Show, and the really awesome thing about Owens’ promo was that for the first time, we heard what the experience is like getting a Mandible Claw by the Fiend. I didn’t realize until now how no one has given a real explanation about how the act of the Mandible Claw makes a person feel. Owens said that he felt the anguish and the emotions from it. He was paralyzed and couldn’t move as the fear washed over him.
Then WWE did another terrible Firefly Fun House segment. More stupid singing. Ugh. THEN they had Aleister Black attack Owens as he went to go after Bray. So, it looks like Owens is going to be drafted to SmackDown because why would Owens be feuding with Bray?
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler def. The Riott Squad - This was a fun match and Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan sold death for Nia and Shayna. I was uncomfortable watching Shayna twist Ruby’s arm in such a way that I could see the bone and like... the tendons and shit. Ew. I wanted them to win, and they almost did but Shayna then locked Ruby in a great Kirifuda Clutch and she sold it so well.
Asuka, Mandy, and Dana def. Zelina, Natalya, and Lana - Asuka and Zelina “feud” does not need to continue. Third table spot for Lana. Hard to not call it what it is - pettiness.
Braun Strowman and Keith Lee ends in double countout - This is getting ridiculous. Lee once again in a match that doesn’t end in a decisive finish. There was no point in doing a match here. The LED board and tables destroying brawl could have been a segment on its own without teasing an exciting match between two legitimate slabs of beef and executing a bucket of meh.
The Hurt Business def. the people they’ve been feuding with for 3 months - At the end of this match, Ricochet said “We’re going to keep coming back until you get tired of us.” and I think I started sobbing a little. Bro, we’re all tired. Nothing of note happened, which has pretty much been the status quo here for the past month.
24/7 silliness - Gulak pulled an Orton from last week and dressed as a janitor and pinned R-Truth. Later, Gulak ducked behind a trash bin and Truth popped out of it. Akira Tozawa popped out of another trash bin, and they all fought in one. Truth ended up winning the title back. 42 times now!
No Raw Underground again this week, and I haven’t heard about it being dropped, but I won’t be surprised if it was. The storyline progression in RETRIBUTION and the Murphy/Seth angle was great. I wish WWE wasn’t so spotty with their creative, because I worry about them carrying this positivity over to next week. Time for the draft!
Grade: B-
What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?